Comments for The Pocket Cyclone

Comment on Aikido Pricing by Markus Nigrin

Markus Nigrin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:29:18 +0000

Marin, thanks for your reply. Although I hint at it in one point, I did not make it very clear throughout: My post has an underlying theme of reacting to feedback, which means two things. You have to receive statistical relevant feedback (as you point out) and you have to decide to keep investing into your app. If a dev decides to not invest work into an app anymore, it is still possible to play with the price, but this post doesn’t talk about that, this really is about an app that is being updated.
Generally, I think my post is relevant at two points in the lifecycle. Wrong pricing can negatively impact a release. And if the app goes well and gets updated, an adjusted pricing strategy should be part of the game.
And just to clarify this as well: For me, “free” is an integral part of any pricing strategy. I am a big proponent of “free”, esp. “free with ads”. All my apps come with free versions and I am also a big proponent of giving a lot with the free versions, esp. on Android. I made this clear so many times, esp. on Twitter, that I didn’t feel the need to point this out (the post was long enough). Thanks for pointing me to that and I think you really grab the spirit of my post with your last statement: If an app “feels as if it should be a free app”, then either invest more into it or, well, make it free

Comment on Aikido Pricing by Marin Todorov

Marin Todorov — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:41:56 +0000

Great post indeed. But you know – if your app is downloaded by 5,000 people the chances there’ll be bad review about 1) price 2)functionality 3)your business model 4)just competition leaving you bad ratings is inevitable – seems from my experience

The app store audience is used to get free stuff – that’s a fact and we cannot change it, furthermore paying 0.99$ for an app which is free to download from torrents really makes people wine about just everything.

In the end – yes I totally agree with you, making a good app means investing money, time and soul – and that definitely does not “feel as it should be a free app”

Comment on Aikido Pricing by Dad

Dad — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:51:12 +0000

This is excellent! Insightful and provids concrete moves to make to resolve common situations. Thank you.

Comment on Aikido Pricing by istayalive

istayalive — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:40:56 +0000

Great post. Thanks for this non-standard approach to the old problem and for another tool in my marketing toolset.

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by Aikido Pricing « The Pocket Cyclone

Aikido Pricing « The Pocket Cyclone — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:36:43 +0000

[...] discussion because the whole price point seems unreasonable. And yet this is what a lot of people make a living with and I strongly suggest to embrace that discussion not despite, but BECAUSE of the $0.99 low-point. [...]

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by Context, Sales, and the Indie Survival Barometer « Retro Dreamer Blog

Context, Sales, and the Indie Survival Barometer « Retro Dreamer Blog — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:20:11 +0000

[...] Markus and Noel were both talking about success one way or another for this week’s iDevBlogaDay too, both well worth reading. [...]

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by Games from Within | Growing, Indie Style

Games from Within | Growing, Indie Style — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:25:55 +0000

[...] it big, and how the great majority of indies don’t recoup their costs. A few days ago, Markus looked at indie iPhone development and how there is a middle-ground group of developers that are able to make make a living at it [...]

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by Doug Sjoquist

Doug Sjoquist — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:33:22 +0000

Thanks Markus, I found your article to be very encouraging as I am working towards being an indie product and game developer instead of a just an indie consultant.

Having the right perspective on success is very important towards being successful, whatever that magic number is.

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by Markus Nigrin

Markus Nigrin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:23:59 +0000

Thanks a lot Brian. I remember your speech at the IGDA Leadership forum in November 09 and I remember lively how you brought this point across to the audience. And it was interesting to me to sense some reservation from the more classic gaming industry representatives, who seemed to be used to think in much bigger financial numbers. But I think time has substantiated what you said there. What I find interesting is the impact this starts to show on the VC world. And, I would love to see more bloggers explore how big this second layer underneath the “strike it rich” layer really is.

Comment on Indie Dev’s dirty little secret by dubane

dubane — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:08:49 +0000

Great article Markus. I think you’ve hit on the key point that I’ve been talking about for a while now – sure it’s very, very difficult to strike it rich, but if you set your goals on a reasonable level it is very possible to make this work.

Still tons of risk, but the smart developers have, and will continue to find ways to make it happen.